Threats against a Cumberland County School are “non-credible,” school and law enforcement officials said Thursday evening.
Director of Schools William Stepp, in an online post and video, said that threats against an unspecified school were made by an out-of-state juvenile. The announcement followed several hours of investigation by multiple agencies after a post to the school system’s Facebook page issued a bomb threat for Friday morning.
“This evening there were online threats that did not identify a specific school,” Stepp wrote. “Multiple agencies, in conjunction with my team, investigated the incident and determined the threats originated from one out-of-state juvenile.”
Stepp said the juvenile used the profile photo of a current Cumberland County Schools student, but that student was not involved in the threatening statements.
“It has been out of an abundance of caution that these agencies have thoroughly investigated and deemed this threat to be non-credible.”
Stepp added appropriate law enforcement agencies in the other state have been notified of the juvenile’s threats.
“Cumberland County Schools would like to thank the public for their posts of concern, reporting of the threats, and immediate response to this situation. Cumberland County Schools would also like to thank Homeland Security, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and the Crossville Police Department for their diligent investigation in getting to the source of this threat.”
Stepp added school principals and resource officers have been notified and extra security measures are being implemented on Friday.
“As always, safety is our number 1 priority,” Stepp wrote.
Friday will be the first day classes have been held in Cumberland County since Jan. 12, when schools were closed with a threat of severe weather. A winter storm paralyzed the community for several days, with ice lingering on several secondary roads into Wednesday evening.